Ohio Harness Horsemen's Association

Deal annexes casino into city; Franklin Township gets $67 million

April 30, 2010

Franklin Township trustees gave their OK tonight to a tentative agreement allowing Columbus to annex the potential West Side casino site and give the township more than $67 million over the next 50 years.

The trustees voted 2-1. Chairman Timothy Guyton and Paul Johnson were in favor and Don Cook against.

Cook said the township's leaders aren't heeding warnings against playing the role of the Indians in the sale of Manhattan.

"You can't buy my vote for a little bit of wampum," he said.

But Guyton and the township's attorney, Don Brosius, said the township would lose thousands of dollars a year if the trustees rejected the deal.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Brosius said.

The deal now goes before City Council on Monday. It's all contingent on Ohio voters on Tuesday approving state Issue 2, which would authorize moving the casino site from the Arena District to the old Delphi plant site on Georgesville Road.

Money generated by the complicated deal would be spread over much of the West Side, concentrating on the Broad Street corridor, regardless of whether the property is in the city or the township, Guyton and Mayor Michael B. Coleman said earlier in the day.

Under the proposed agreement, Columbus would annex no land for the next 50 years in commercial and industrial areas of the township that are part of a new Joint Economic Development District.

And with approval from 50 percent of the property owners, businesses in the new district would impose a 2.5 percent income tax that would be dedicated largely to economic-development projects within the area.

"It meets the test of what's right for the area," Coleman said. "The beauty of this is that it's not just about a casino."

Guyton agreed: "I think this is a fair offer on the table."

Guyton said it's reasonable for Columbus to get a larger share because it's so much larger. The agreement will help keep Franklin Township solvent for years to come. The township's annual budget is between $8 million and $9 million.

Coleman said that once the casino site is annexed which is projected to occur by September city officials will work with the state to pay for environmental cleanup.

"It's a very dirty site," he said. "We would do that with anybody. This is a vacant, abandoned, hazardous site."

The city is conducting a traffic study of the area near the proposed casino, along with the state and county. However, casino developer Penn National will pay for any needed improvements, Coleman said.

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Deal annexes casino into city; Franklin Township gets $67 million